Drimyspermum Laurifolium, Flowers and Red Berries Chromolithograph, 1859

This is an original antique botanical print, a chromolithograph printed in color, lettered "DRIMYSPERMUM LAURIFOLIUM Decne." A leafy branch carries two heads of small white star shaped flowers with yellow anthers at its upper tips, and a tight cluster of glossy red berries at the left. The long, pointed leaves are a deep glossy green, and a second woody shoot runs off to the lower right.

The name is lettered in capitals with the authority "Decne." (Decaisne). At lower left the artist's line reads "J. Gaÿkema ad. viv in Horto. Lugd. Bat." (drawn by J. Gaÿkema from the living plant in the botanic garden at Leiden), and at lower right "Lith de L. Stroobant à Gand." (lithograph by L. Stroobant in Ghent). No plate number is printed on this plate. The genus is now usually called Phaleria.

The plate comes from the second volume of the Annales d'horticulture et de botanique, ou Flore des jardins du royaume des Pays-Bas, published at Leiden by A. W. Sythoff in 1859 for the Société royale d'horticulture des Pays-Bas under the patronage of King William III. The journal recorded cultivated and ornamental plants grown in the Netherlands and introduced from the Dutch possessions in the East Indies, from America and from Japan. Hort. Lugd. Bat. stands for Hortus Lugduno-Batavus, the botanic garden of Leiden University. L. Stroobant was a lithographer working in Ghent (Gand in French).

The strong color and clear drawing make it a good choice for a study, a garden room or a hallway, framed singly or in a group of plates from the same work.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.